Outlet box mounting



2 Sheets-Sheet l J. G. KNIGHT OUTLET BOX MOUNTING Filed July so, 1952 April 10, 1934.

A ril 10, 1934. J. 3. KNIGHT I 1,954,431

OUTLET BOX MOUNTING Filed July so, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mxm A A ORNEY Patented Apr. 10, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OUTLET BOX MOUNTING Julian Gordon Knight, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application July 30, 1932, Serial No. 626,392

I 4 Claims. (01. 247-22) .Theobjects of this invention are to provide portion and another series of knockouts 20in the simple, practical and inexpensive means for lower portion of the same. Y i I mounting outlet boxes and the like in so-called To support the box on the gridworkor frame hung or hanging ceiling structures and which of the hung ceiling, there are provided, in the means will be capable of ready installation, adpresent disclosure, bars 21 of flat strip material justable to suit different requirements and which of a length to bridge across the flanges of adwill support the box structure rigidly and firmjoining angle bars. and secured in that engagely in the desired position. ment with opposite sides of the box so as'to The foregoing and other desirable objects are stand on edge and hence present the greatest attained by the novel features of construction, strength and rigidity to the flanges of theangle 65 combinations and relations of parts hereinafter bars.

disclosed and broadly claimed. One simple and practical way of securing the The drawings accompanying and forming part flat supporting strips to the boxes is'to pass of the specification illustrate certainpractical emthem through aligned openings. 22 at opposite bodiments of the invention but it will be undersides of the panels 23 of the octagon sided box 70 stood that the structure may be modified and wall. This construction is illustrated in dechanged as regards such illustration without detail in Fig. 4, which view also shows how the parture from thetrue spirit and broad scopeof box may be secured in adjusted position on the invention. the bars by one or more set screws 24 in the Figs. 1 and 2 in the drawings are broken verside of the box and bearing at their inner ends 7 tical sectional and bottom plan views respecagainst those portions of the supporting bars tively of a hung ceiling structure and showinside the. box and bridging the wall panelbeing an electric outlet box mounted in accordtween the openings at the edges of the same. ance with the present invention; The supporting strips 21 may be fastened down Fig. 3 is a broken and part vertical sectional On top of the Ceiling frame a by tie wires S wn view illustrating the special outlet box as conat 25 passed about the angle bars and through structed in accordance with the present invenopenings 26 in the supporting bars. A series 0! tion; such openings may be provided adjacent each Fig. 4 is a broken part sectional detail ill end of the bar so as to permit a certain amount trating a form of screw means for securing the of lo udi adjustment of the b and if d box in accurately adjusted position on the suped t use Of t tie Wire through a number porting bars; of the openings, instead of only one opening Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentary detail views ilat eac end of the bar. lustrating another form of means for securing the To a a W d Supporting b a d 8150 t box in accurately located position. Figs. 7 and Secure the bOX and the bars in hen-Shifting rele- 8 are further details of the invention. tion, the bars may be bent where they issue from In Figs. 1 and 2, a so-called hung ceiling i the box sides as indicated at 27, Fig. 2. When the illustrated comprising the furring 7 suspended bars are thus sprea at their ehde, y form a from the ceiling side of the floor slab 8 by the wider and more stable supporti base, v r mhangers 9 and carrying the metal lath 10 for me t pp tendencies of the box before the the plaster face 11 of the lower or hanging ceilduit is connected up.

mg. 1 The openings 22 for the supporting bars 21 The furring for such hung ceiling consists ay b provided for y Suitable e e ts 8- usually of a grid made up of the downwardly Fig. 3 in the box wall at opposite side edges of faced channel bars 12 connected in parallel reladiametrically pp d Octagon p s f t e box.

tion by the angle irons 13. These special knockouts may be provided in or- The outlet box, indicated at 14 is shown as dinary double depth boxes, thereby adapting such relatively deep so as to present an upper porboxes to the present special use when so required. tion 15, Fig. 1, in line with conduit pipe 16 ex- In the hanging type ceiling, there is usually tending over the upstanding flanges of the angle plenty of space betwen the two ceilings, as inbars and a lower portion 17 in line with other dicated in Fig. 1 and consequently an outside fixconduit 18 extending at a lower level over the ture stud may be mounted on the top of the box. channel bars 12 of the gridwork. To take these In Fig. 3 the details of this external fixture stud pipes at the two different levels, the box is shown are shown, such stud consisting of an internally as carrying a series of knockouts 19 in the upper screw threaded thimble 29 disposed over an open- 110 relation by the downwardly and inwardly turned lugs 31 extending through openings 32 in the box top. This hollow fixture stud is shown as closed at the top and covered over by a thin walled sheet metal thimble 33 inverted and pressed down friction tight over the hollow stud.

Instead of passing the supporting bars through openings in the sides of the box wall, said bars may be caught over the outside of the box wall by clips such as indicated at 34, Figs. 5 and 6, bent to pass about and grip the bars to the side of the box wall and adjustably secured in this gripping relation to the box wall by one or more screws 35. Upon loosening these screws, it will be observed that the box may be shifted relatively to the supporting bars and be then secured in the desired adjusted relation.

It will be seen that the supporting bars may first be secured to the box and the box with the bars attached be then placed down over the'angle bars of the ceiling frame, as a unit, after which, with the box positioned in properly centered relation, the supporting bars may be securely wired or otherwise fastened down on to the frame. Before or in the course of so mounting the box, the bars may be spread somewhat as indicated in Fig. 2 and the set screws 24 for relatively fastening the box and supporting bars may be used or not, as required. By the construction disclosed, the box is securely and firmly supported and in position with the upper set of box openings in line to take the conduit 16 extending over the flanges of the angle bars and with the lower set of openings in line to take the conduit 18 extending over the channel bars 12, in between the angle iron flanges.

In addition to the fact that the flat strips are relatively inexpensive and provide a maximum of strength for size and weight, such strips arranged as they are, on edge and fiat against the inside face of the box, take up a minimum of space within the box. It should be understood however, that these supporting rods or bars may be round or square or other shapes and may be tubular or solid in form. The supports engage the intermediate portion of the box, in the region between the set of wiring openings in the upper portion of the box and the other set of wiring openings in the lower portion of the box so as to support the box in a way to resist strain occasioned by either the upper or the lower sets of conduit. The multisided form of box is advantageous as providing flat panels to which the fiat support may be firmly secured in fiat relation. The various means for adjustably securing the box and supporting rods in relatively adjusted relation each have certain advantages. The bending or spreading of the rods to provide in eflect shoulders locking against the outer faces of the box panels is an inexpensive and ordinarily sufficient method of relatively securing the parts. The set screws 24 or the bar clamping brackets 34 however permit possibly of greater adjustment and avoid the need for any bending of the bars. The slots 22 are preferably so nearly in alignment with the inside faces of the box panels 23, Fig. 4, that the flat supporting bars 21 will be held fiat against the box wall and hence be secured in their on-edge relation by both the box wall and the confining slots. The outside brackets or clips 34 in Figs. 5 and 6 have an equivalent effect but the slotted construction is cheaper and to some extent simpler and stronger.

The box wall may be of various lengths to suit ing 30 in the top of the box and secured in this different requirements and accordingly the knockouts may be located at different levels in the box wall, with the supporting bars located between the upper and lower knockout levels, the spacing being such to leave clearance between the knockouts and the bars for the usual conduit bushings at the inside of the box. The adjustability of the bars on the grid and the adjustability of the boxes with respect to the bars enables the location and the centering of the boxes in practically any desired relation. Rotary as well as lateral shifting adjustments may be made to face the knockouts in difierent angular directions. The knockouts may be of different sizes as indicated, enabling conduit of one size to be entered at one level and conduit of a different size "to be taken out at another level. The knockouts 28 for the bar openingsmay be provided at opposides sides of every alternate panel of the box side wall as indicated in Fig. 3, so that a certain choice may be exercised in locating the box on the supporting bars. This may be desirable where different size conduit knockouts are provided in the different panels. The two bars on edge, engaged with diametrically opposite side portions of the box provide a strong, wide and firm mounting for the box.

Different forms of fixture studs may be used. Thus as indicated in Figs. 7 and 8, a "fiush type of stud may be employed, the same consisting ofv a base portion 36, secured on the top of the box as by rivets 37 and having a centrally bossed part 38, extending down through the top opening 30 and carrying an upwardly introverted screwthreaded socket portion 39. The'upper end of The top of the box may have a suitable number of knockouts 42 therein, these if desired, being of different sizes, after the manner of the side panels.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated, it will be appreciated that many other changes may be made, all within the broad intent of the claims.

. What is claimed is:

1. A multi-sided outlet box having pairs of aligned slots therethrough closely adjacent opposite edges of opposite side panels, said aligned slots of each pair being disposed substantially in line with the inside faces of said opposite side panels and fiat supporting bars extending through said aligned slots and held thereby in fiat engagement with the inside faces of said side panels.

2. A multi-sided outlet box, flat supporting bars for the same, means securing said fiat supporting bars in flat engagement with opposite side panels of the multi-sided box wall and end portions of said flat supporting bars being spread apart a distance greater than that maintained by the securing of said bars in flat engagement with the opposite side panels and providing a supporting base structure for the box of greater width than the box itself.

3. A multi-sided outlet box having pairs of aligned slots therethrough closely adjacent opposite edges of opposed side panels and in substantial parallelism with said side panels, flat supporting bars extending through said aligned slots and positioned thereby with the portions extending through the box in close substantially parallel relation with said side panels and end portions of said flat bars outside the box, being spread a greater distance than the distance maintained by said box wall and providing thereby a supporting base for the box of greater width than that permitted by the box itself.

4. An electric outlet box or the like having a deep side wall with knockouts in the upper portion of the same to take conduit at an upper level 

